Ballad of a Tragic Hero
by keem
Summary: I hear the secrets that you keep, when you're talking in your sleep. JacobxBella oneshot. R&R.


A/N: i always root for the underdog (get it? hur, hur), so it's no wonder that i'm in love with Jacob Black. and if Bella had any sense, she'd love him too. (i mean, love him_ more_.) takes place during _Eclipse_.

this is my first foray into the_ Twilight_ fandom, so please be gentle. and R&R :D

--

**Ballad of a Tragic Hero**

--

Bella is only honest when she dreams.

Jacob has known all along that she loves him. Bella has always been a terrible liar, after all, and even when she's lying to herself she manages to be incredibly transparent. In a way, Jacob knows Bella even better than she knows herself: he had seen her affection for him blossom and thrive even before she had become consciously aware of it herself. Bella has always been absurdly easy to read.

Because of Edward she tries to stifle it; has repeatedly (feverently!) denied its existence, but it's _still _there, still plainly evident, even with the bloodsucker's return. He can see it written across her beautiful features, even now - a tangible indication, as clear as day. Her feeble protests are laughable, and he does not believe her resistance for a moment.

Jacob takes some solace in this. She loves him. But even in knowing this, Jacob is not a foolish man. On the contrary, he is exceedingly clever and shrewd and perceptive. And because of this, he knows that Bella simply loving him is not enough. Not when she loves the bloodsucker too, a love so all-consuming that everything seems dull and insignificant in comparison. Jacob is the sun, but Edward is an eclipse, and because of it, Jacob has been forced into the recesses of the shadows, his significance muted and diluted because of it.

Jacob will always be second. But tonight - on the eve of the battle against the newborns, a monumental occasion in which wolves and bloodsuckers have formed an alliance in order to defeat a common enemy - he is pushed in the forefront, has assumed his position of the alpha male in Bella's eyes. Because when Bella dreams, she dreams of _him_.

"Jacob. My Jacob."

Bella snuggles deeper into Jacob's armpit as she speaks, her words slightly muffled by the toned, warm flesh as she draws even more impossibly close. Despite this, there is no mistaking what she says - it is definitely in regards to him. _My_ _Jacob_. The shape-shifter can't help himself: he glances in Edward's direction, standing in the corner of the tent like a marble statue. Jacob searches his face, trying to gauge his reaction. He notes that the vampire is stiller and paler than usual, his eyebrows knitted together. Edward might have winced at Bella's acknowledgement if he were a lesser man. Jacob can see the faintest traces of a grimace, tugging at the edges of his pale, thin-lipped mouth.

His rival was obviously in pain. He's _hurting_. The visible anguish is almost enough to pull at Jacob's heartstrings, almost piteous enough to invoke a pang of sympathy. But then the surge of triumph he feels at Bella's possessive murmur quickly overrides anything else he could have felt. _That's right, blood sucker. You can't deny that she wants _me_,_ he thinks smugly, unable to refrain from smirking up into the vampire's wary face.

"This doesn't change anything, you know," Edward eventually says, his voice cool as his expression returning to its usual impassive, unimpressed state. He slowly raises his arms and folds them across his narrow chest in a show of nonchalance. "When she's awake, she only has eyes for _me_. Tomorrow morning, you'll be swathed in opaque darkness once again, incomparable to my radiance. I will continue to outshine you, by far."

Jacob jerks back, stung. Bella frowned in her sleep. "No. No Jacob, no." And she winds herself even more tightly around him, successfully restricting his movement. "Jacob..." The comfort of her embrace is the only thing that keeps Jacob from getting his hackles up, from fighting Edward right there. He bites back the snarl and tries to neutralize his features, to imitate Edward's show of indifference. He knows he can't pull it off as nearly as well as Edward does.

"Maybe," he tries to give a rendition of a light-hearted shrug, but it's difficult due to the fact that Bella is wrapped bodily around him. "But for now, there is only _this_."

And he smiles, although he knows it is a futile, insignificant gesture. Edward can read minds, after all; and the vampire knows as well as Jacob does that inside, his heart is breaking.


End file.
